Date: 7 January 2016
Wine: Pecchenino 2012 Dolcetto di Dogliani Superiore Sirì d’Jermu
Cuisine: Italian with Iberian Inspiration

Wine List: Convivium Osteria offers an eclectic fusion of southern Mediterranean wine selections. Italy, Spain and Portugal feature and offer a lot of value along with quite a few splurges.

Pick: My companion and I were feeling Italian, and medium-ish body was the agreed goal to pair with our Pan Roasted Quail with Port Wine and Dried Figs, Chicken Livers Wrapped in Pancetta and House-Made Ravioli with Duck Ragu. It’s at last getting cold here, but it’s still not quite that cold.

We’d chosen big-flavored dishes, and I figured we either could match their rusticity or contrast it with a fruit-driven wine. A few Puglians and a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano met the first consideration while a Dolcetto matched the second. It would be a gamey meal, so I ultimately strayed from the Central and Southern Italian bottlings, thinking they might overly reinforce the dishes’ funkiness. Opting for the perkier fruit of Dolcetto, I reasoned that one hailing from Dogliani nonetheless would deliver enough muscle, as Dogliani makes the most four-square Dolcettos. We got just the right amount of grit, but we also got a surprising pile of earthiness, too. It wasn’t just that the Pecchenino 2012 was losing some youthful luster; it also had some Brett. The wine was pleasant enough, but its funk did intensify the Chicken Livers. Ah, the best laid plans!